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General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Anaxogoras on April 24, 2009, 07:38:20 PM

Title: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 24, 2009, 07:38:20 PM
So, I got my tax refund, and the vast majority has to go to paying off debt, college savings for my son, home improvement, etc., but I'd like to finally build myself a cheap system that would run AH better than the 5 year old hunk-of-junk I have now.  Can I please have your help in confirming that the following items are compatible?  All the VCs say dx10, but xp is dx9, of course.  Is there an issue here?  I've never built a computer before but people who know me say I wouldn't have too much trouble.  Thank you for your help.

Total cost: $558.92
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: 1701E on April 24, 2009, 07:52:17 PM
I skimmed this (looked at brand names), and I have troubles (likely most people will) with one thing in particular.  The case is Rosewill, with a PSU as a bonus, likely also Rosewill, they are a brand of PSU to stay away from at all costs.

Only thing I see troubles with, but I will let TilDeath, Llama, Bald, Fulmar and the group help more. :)
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Fulmar on April 24, 2009, 08:50:54 PM
You won't be able to see DX10 graphics in XP.  You won't have any problems running a DX10 capable card in XP's DX9 environment.

At the $80 price point, the Nvidia 9600GT beats out the ATI 4670 you have selected.  As 1701E pointed out, avoid that Rosewill PSU.  If you're on a strict budget, buy a cheaper case WITHOUT a PSU.  Spend about $60-$80 (for your amp needs, might be after MIR) on a decent PSU, PC Power and Cooling etc.  I use the same RAM you have selected, no issues.  $15 more on that Hard Drive gets you 2x the space and a 32mb cache.

The E5200 overclocks well.  You should be able to hit 3.0ghz on the stock cooler.  If you want to go beyond that, look to an aftermarket cooler and some Arctic Silver 5.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 24, 2009, 09:35:11 PM
Thanks for the tips on the PSU.  I can spend a little more and will buy a case and PSU separately.  I'll also look into the nvidia and larger hdd.
 :)

How about this case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025

and this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006

?
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: 1701E on April 24, 2009, 09:45:57 PM
Woo 430Watt is rather low.  Seems the minimal I see listed is 500Watt, recommended is 550+.  I use 700Watt, overkill, but I am good for future upgrades. :)

Also only 17A on each Rail seems low, but not sure what the GPU needs or if you plan to use the PSU for future gaming needs.
Mostly the name brands that float around as good are: PC P&C, OCZ, SeaSonic.

That case is more of TilDeath's area, I won't even try to guess about it. :)
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: 1701E on April 24, 2009, 09:49:19 PM
Stupid internet sorry
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: 1701E on April 24, 2009, 09:50:33 PM
Stupid internet Sorry.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: TilDeath on April 24, 2009, 10:10:46 PM
Get with me about a OCZ or PC Power and Cooling PSU.  I can have it shipped right to your home and same you some monies over newegg.  Also get with me about cases.  I really cant comment about the build since this is in a budget that I don't build in
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: BaldEagl on April 24, 2009, 11:18:11 PM
Your parts are compatible.

As others have already mentioned, stay away from the Rosewill case with PSU option and buy them seperately.  To run your system and video card you won't be able to get away with less than 450-500W but you need to make absolutely sure that your running an 80+ certified PSU with at least 30 combined amps on the 12V rails.  I think there's a Seasonic unit that will fit these paramaters at a somewhat reasonable price.  Otherwise if TilDeath can get you a good price the PC Power and Cooling the 610 or 750W are very good PSU's (I'm running the 750).

Other than that I'd look at adding a sound card even if it's only a $30 Creative Audigy.  The reason I say this is that sound processing affects CPU load (clock cycles) and the 2.5 Wolfdale you're looking at only has an 800 FSB (200 core clock) which is already on the low end.  You might be able to OC that to a 1066 FSB and run the CPU at 3.125 Ghz but you'll probably want an aftermarket CPU cooler to achieve that.  An Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro would work for under $30 but even then you're loading the CPU for sound processing.  Getting a relatively cheap sound card will help unload the CPU and still allow you to OC the CPU to a somewhat lesser degree until you get an aftermarket cooler.

Also, not sure about the pricing but considering the fact that you'll likely not get much higher than a 1066 FSB out of that CPU you could drop the RAM to DDR2 533 if it can save you some $ or even 400 if you never plan on OCing or upgrading.  If you plan on someday replacing the CPU with a 1333 FSB unit with an easy OC potential of 1600 or more then stick with the DDR2 800 RAM.

Overall what you're looking at will run the game fine.  Just giving you some things to think about.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Masherbrum on April 25, 2009, 12:02:48 AM
Gavagai, go with this HD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319)
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 25, 2009, 12:31:53 AM
Quote from: Masherbrum on April 25, 2009, 12:02:48 AM
Gavagai, go with this HD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319)

Far more space than what I would ever use, but it looks nice.  :)  I only have 52gb on my current hard drive. :lol
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Masherbrum on April 25, 2009, 01:05:22 AM
Quote from: Anaxogoras on April 25, 2009, 12:31:53 AM
Far more space than what I would ever use, but it looks nice.  :)  I only have 52gb on my current hard drive. :lol

I have a 150GB Raptor I bought on Clearance from Best Buy for $99.   It is the ONLY reason I bought it.

That drive I linked you as the same speed for less.   It has a 32MB Cache.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: BaldEagl on April 25, 2009, 02:50:46 AM
Yikes!  I'm a packrat.  I've got 180 Gb on my laptop, 193 Gb on my Dell (soon to be upgraded to 440 Gb) and 610 Gb on my new machine (soon to be upgraded to 1.5 Tb).  I've got the drives sitting here.  Just need to get them put in.

Total drive space after upgrades:  2.12 Tb   :D
Netwoked drive space:  1.24 Tb
Mobile (USB external) drive space:  180 Gb (2 USB drives... 120 Gb networked)
Total # of independant drives:  9
Total partitions:  12
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 25, 2009, 09:15:05 AM
The main reason why I selected a seagate hd is it's a brand that I trust, and the reviews that mention how many times these things are doa seem to confirm my opinion.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Fulmar on April 25, 2009, 10:22:35 AM
Quote from: BaldEagl on April 25, 2009, 02:50:46 AM
Yikes!  I'm a packrat.  I've got 180 Gb on my laptop, 193 Gb on my Dell (soon to be upgraded to 440 Gb) and 610 Gb on my new machine (soon to be upgraded to 1.5 Tb).  I've got the drives sitting here.  Just need to get them put in.

Total drive space after upgrades:  2.12 Tb   :D
Netwoked drive space:  1.24 Tb
Mobile (USB external) drive space:  180 Gb (2 USB drives... 120 Gb networked)
Total # of independant drives:  9
Total partitions:  12

Oh yeah, well my main PC has 18 USB ports...
4 on motherboard back panel
5 on PCI expansion USB card
2 front panel
2 keyboard
1 memory card reader
4 powered USB hub

I probably only used 6 or 7 right now.  At one time had about 14 filled.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: BaldEagl on April 25, 2009, 10:55:40 AM
I'll vouch for the 250/16 Seagate.  I'm running two of those on my new machine; one as my primary boot drive and the other for machine specific unshared data.  Plenty fast and not a blip out of either one.

I've got two 500/16 Seagate NS series drives that I'll be installing this week as network back-up drives.  I hope they work as well as the 250's.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Shamus on April 25, 2009, 08:44:11 PM
I would go with a 256 bit video card Gava.

shamus
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 26, 2009, 09:12:39 AM
Thanks shamus.  I looked at the nvidia 9600GTs and found this one, which I intend to purchase instead of the radeon.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125099 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125099)
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: TilDeath on April 26, 2009, 10:27:50 AM
Quote from: Anaxogoras on April 25, 2009, 09:15:05 AM
The main reason why I selected a seagate hd is it's a brand that I trust, and the reviews that mention how many times these things are doa seem to confirm my opinion.
I like WD.  Most so called DOA drives are user error.  For instance a SATA drive on an old XP disk install and the problems associated with this.

As for reviews on Newegg and other sites, I never pay attention, you don't actually know the users true knowledge.  They may tinker with their system daily and therefore think of themselves with a high amount of knowledge.  Reviews from most "sites" are not reliable since they are advertiser driven in some fashion (free samples that do not have to be returned, banner adds etc versus, here is out product but after the review send it back).  Also anyone can post on these sites, some companies do make posts about a competitor's product in a negative way.

We talked about PSU's here are some better choices then what you had looked at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010) 60.00 after rebate plus free shipping.  I can get it for you for less but no free shipping and PSU's are heavy so they are costly to ship.  I figure after the rebate and free shipping this will save you about 5 bucs

Cases find one within your budget that has the ability to add the most amount of fans

Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: BaldEagl on April 27, 2009, 12:38:19 AM
I've had so many hard drives I can hardly count; both Seagate and WD.  Of these the only ones I've ever had problems with were two of the WDs.  Seagate all the way from now on for me.  If you don't care about having to replace them periodically then WD's are fine.
Title: Re: Would this work?
Post by: Anaxogoras on April 30, 2009, 10:13:17 PM
Thank you all for the tips and advice!  I'm typing this with my new box.  It seems like I set everything up correctly on the first try, and I've never built a system before.

Now I'm downloading stuff like crazy...can't wait to try AH and Il-2.


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Bleh, during system bootup it recognizes 4gb of ram, but in xp it says I only have 3gb...